Charles Nessler, sometimes referred to as Charles Nestle, was actually born Karl Nessler in Germany in 1872. He moved to England where he patented an invention for artificial eyebrows and in 1909, his first permanent wave machine.
Karl Nessler. Charles Nessler (born Karl Ludwig Neßler; 2 May 1872 – 22 January 1951) was the inventor of the permanent wave.
But Czech hairdresser Josef Mayer (1924) and African-American Marjorie Joyner, who in 1928 patented a system in which their hair was rolled in cylinders, gave their greatest contribution. As always, an invention pulls the other and each is the daughter of the former.
Marjorie Stewart Joyner invented a permanent wave machine and was a leading figure in the beauty industry as a beautician, salon owner, instructor and executive for the Madam C. J. Walker Manufacturing Co. Joyner was born in Monterey, Virginia.
Perms were popularized by iconic movies during the 80s that featured actresses with big, lustrous curls, but this style got its start many years earlier in Germany. The process was invented by Karl Ludwig Nesser, a creative hairdresser who first tested the treatment on his wife.
In 1938, Arnold F. Willatt invented the cold wave, the precursor to the modern perm. It used no machines and no heat. The hair was wrapped on rods and a reduction lotion containing ammonium thioglycolate was applied.
A perm, short for "permanent wave," is a chemical process that alters the hair's protein structure to create curls or waves that last, well, permanently (or until the hair grows out). Perms were originally popularized for men and women in the 1980s but have evolved over the years.
The revolution starts
The concept of permanent waves was first introduced by a French chemist, Marcel Grateau, in the late 19th century. He developed a hot curling iron that could create curls that lasted for several months at a time.
Martha Jones becomes first Black woman to receive a U.S. patent. On May 5, 1868, Martha Jones of Amelia County, Virginia is believed to be the first Black woman to receive a U.S. patent for inventing a machine that husks and shells corn all in one procedure.
The Marcel Wave is named for French hairstylist François Marcel, who invented the process in 1872. Created with the help of heated curling irons, the wave remained popular for more than five decades—and it still works today.
A permanent wave, commonly called a perm, is the chemical treatment of hair to produce curls. The first chemical treatment for curling hair that was suitable for use on people was invented in the year 1906 by the German hairdresser Karl Nessler (1872-1951).
Perms can damage your hair over time. If you don't take care of your scalp health, you could get hair loss. Scalp health is important because once a hair follicle gets damaged, you can't grow new hair from that follicle. It's important to get perms only from a trusted salon.
Even more thankfully, the machine became obsolete when Karl Nessler invented a chemical process for curling hair.
1909: Garret A.
Morgan, an African American sewing machine repairman from Kentucky, is credited for creating the first chemical relaxer – a hair treatment that permanently straightens afro hair. His invention came in 1909, inspired by a method used to reduce needle friction on wool.
Krazy George Henderson perfected the wave at National Hockey League games, followed later by the earliest available video documentation of a wave, which he led on October 15, 1981, at a Major League Baseball game in Oakland, California.
A body wave is a perm, but it results in more wavy, naturally curly looking hair. Where a perm gives your hair instant volume, a body wave, or demi wave gives your hair a natural look. You can choose the size of your waves by the size of the rods used to create the curls.
Henry Blair, a Montgomery Country, Maryland black man, received a patent for a corn planter in 1834 and another for a cotton planter in 1836. And there are many others, known only anecdotally, who are said to have developed cotton-cleaning machines, broom-making machines, systems for curing tobacco, and so on.
Harriet Tubman
Her legacy is indelible in the movement to abolish slavery, as she is documented to have made approximately 13 trips through the Underground Railroad, leading dozens of slaves to freedom and was never caught, despite a $40,000 reward for her capture.
On May 5, 1809, Mrs. Mary Kies of South Killingly became the first woman in the United States to receive a patent. Her patent was for a new way to braid straw with silk and other threads in the making of women's bonnets.
German hairdresser, Karl Nessler, had a loving wife, loving enough to be his guinea pig for the first ever perm. Nessler applied sodium hydroxide to his wife's hair and wrapped it in heated brass rods connected to a chandelier. As the story goes, his wife survived a burnt scalp and burnt hair before they got it right.
Invented by the hairdresser Jheri Redding, the Jheri curl gives the wearer a glossy, loosely curled look. It was touted as a "wash and wear" style that was easier to care for than the other popular chemical treatment of the day, the relaxer.
"Over-bleached hair, highlighted hair, over-colored hair, and porous hair types should not get a perm," says James, "as the hair will disintegrate."
Definition. The broccoli haircut is a hairstyle with tapered sides and short, uneven layered curls on top, which are often permed. It is referred to as such due to its resemblance to a floret of broccoli.
Popularized in the '70s and '80s, perms (or, permanent waving, if you're proper) have seen many forms over the years. There have been perm rods in the hair of everyone from Cher to Jon Bon Jovi, and even your very own grandmother, probably.